Friday, April 9, 2010

Well, hello there!

WOW! Where oh where has the time gone?! Last time I posted, Eliza was just 3 weeks old. Today she is over 3 months old! So much has happened, I hardly even recognize my own life, but before we get into all that, I think the least I can do is post a photo to make up for my absence.


We are officially back in Buffalo and thanks to my amazing husband, our move went incredibly well. Far easier than I ever anticipated. It is wonderful to be home and surrounded by our family and friends. Miss Eliza has had quite the social life since we moved back - meeting all her aunts, uncles & cousins has been joyful, indeed. She has even had the chance to spend some time with my grandma, her 90 year old, GiGi. Our new place is lovely, on the small side, but really nice. We lucked out and are renting from my sister-in-law's sister and it is a perfect arrangement. We plan to be here a year or two before we buy again. After 3 months at home with his girls, Sean started his new job yesterday. We LOVED having him home and feel quite blessed and spoiled to have had the indulgence of so much family time.



It is hard to believe, but one year ago yesterday, was transfer day & our little miracle began her journey to our lives. S
o much has changed in a year and we never could have imagined how full of love and joy our lives would be. We feel incredibly blessed and lucky to have Eliza in our lives.

Hmmm, so much to fill you in on. Let's see, breastfeeding has been quite a challenge. I have seen 4 different lactation consultants and every supply trick in the book. I will devote an entire post to it, but Eliza has a suck dysfunction - a possible type 4 tongue tie and I have a supply issue, possibly as a result of the suck d
ysfunction. Her weight gain has been slow, but with lots of pumping, giving her extra ounces of pumped milk & occasionally formula, she is gaining and has finally broke the 11lb mark. She is our tiny little girl.

Speaking of tiny little girls, Libby dislocated her hip again and just recently had surgery to permanently fix it. Poor thing, she has had it rough. She and Eliza are becoming fast friends.



Things Eliza loves at 3 months old:

1. Sleep! Eliza loves her sleep and sleeps a solid 7 hours per night straight and 12 + hours total. She is just like her mommy, daddy and fur-sister Libby. She is a happy, happy baby.

2. Binki - ahhh, heaven!

3. Her swing - girl can take some serious power naps in that thing.

4. Drooling

5. Snuggling - she loves being worn and snuggled close.

6. Baths - especially baths with mommy.

7. Her playmat.

8. Music and singing - she is a big fan of The Farmer in the Dell and the various silly versions Mommy and Daddy invent.

9. Hockey - yep, hockey. She is transfixed when it is on. Our little Sabres fan already. We really should nip this love affair with TV in the bud.

Things Eliza is not a fan of at 4 months:

1. Formula, or at least certain kinds. We need to send the video to America's Funniest.

2. Laying flat on her back - she is a reflux babe.

3. The car and her carseat. Boy, does she ever scream.

As you can see, the list of loves, far outweighs the list of dislikes.

She is happy, happy, happy and almost everyone who meets her comments on how smiley she is. She rolls over, laughs and kicks her feet a mile a minute. How did we ever get so lucky?


16 comments:

Meant to be a mom said...

HEY STRANGER!!! Oh my goodness, Eliza is the absolute cutest ever. I'm so glad you posted. I'm also so glad your all doing well. Its great to hear from you. :)

Anonymous said...

SOOO good to hear from you - she is beautiful!

I love the shot with the dog!

Barefoot said...

What a beauty! SO glad to hear that things are going well and that you're enjoying your happy happy baby. We're in the same boat with the formula -- sort of an expensive experiment to find out which ones she liked!

sweetpeanme said...

Oh those eyes!!! Beautiful beautiful!!! Just like momma!

So glad everything is going so well!!! Been thinkin' about you!!

RMCarter said...

I was just reading through the list of blogs I follow and wondering when I'd hear from you. This was 2 days ago and, look! Here you are! :) So nice to see pictures of Eliza and hear that you all are doing well!

Bee said...

She is truly beautiful! Congratulations and well wishing and every other happiness in the book to you. Doesn't it just take your breath away to think that this beautiful little person was who you were waiting for all along? I'm so happy to hear how wonderful life is for you.

poppy.f.seed said...

I love the pictures, she is sooo lovely!!! I look forward to more updates on all of you.
Our baby hates the car seat too, I hung a soft toy I made, for her, and place it down once she's getting strapped in, it can sometimes stop her in mid cry!

Sue said...

She is so beautiful! I am so happy that things are going so great for you! You are practically my neighbor now (well, not like we could arrange playdates or anything, but only about 2 hours...which is rare when you live in CNY).

Maria (MKC101103) said...

I'm so happy to see an update from you!!! She is just precious and she certainly looks like a very happy little lady :)

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much for the post update, and congrats on your beautiful little girl! :-)

Nicole said...

oh my goodness...she needs to model. THAT is a beautiful baby

Carrie1074 said...

Glad all is going well! She is so cute! All the pictures are adorable, but I love the last one!

Mo said...

oh my gosh. she is SO BEAUTIFUL! Thanks for sharing pics! Made my day : )

Mo

Becky said...

Congrats on your beautiful little girl! I had IVF twin boys last July and one also had a "feeding delay," or as I used to say, "He sucked at sucking." We talked about looking into a posterior tongue tie correction but eventually didn't do it- it was a long shot. He always struggled at the bottle and breast and a lot had to do with his reflux. Does Eliza get stuffy at all? Steven was so congested from the silent reflux that he couldn't suck and swallow without opening his mouth to breathe. We put him on Zantac and it cleared up within days and made a big help. He still couldn't coordinate his tongue though so we had him "evaluated" for early intervention. He qualified as having a feeding delay and it meant we got monthly home visits from a speech pathologist who helped us so much. It was such a great program- I would really recommend looking into it. We also met a PT/massage therapist through that program who did cranio-sacral therapy. This involves making a chiropractic adjustment to the roof of the mouth. I guess when the joint is out of whack it can affect the entire mouth's movements. He had two treatments, which were completely painless, and it made a difference instantly. I wish I had known about it sooner! He had it done at about 6 months and started getting visits at 2 months, so it could have been 4 more months of easier feedings. Unfortunately I have given up BFing him at that point, but you are in a good position to try those sorts of things. Let me know if you have any other questions about it. I thought I would pass it on because I had such similar struggles (also with supply) and I really found all of the above super helpful!

kayjay said...

Okay - waaaay behind in commenting but catching up slowly.

First thing I noticed about Eliza is her amazingly beautiful blue blue eyes. Gorgeous! You are also looking fabulous in your family photo. Can't believe you moved back to Buffalo with a newborn - you're one amazing super Mom! That photo with your furry friend and Eliza is absolutely adorable and I hope Libby feels better soon.

Happy belated first Mother's Day to you and look forward to more pictures and updates when you can.

queenjohnsonclan said...

You haven't written on this blog for two years and I'm sure you will never see this comment but I need to put out in the online universe...I love this story! So rare and so exactly what every infertile running out of hope, patience and strength really needs to find at some point. Thank you so much for sharing and I hope you find out how much it means to the rest of us still on the journey. God bless!